A different Kingdom

It was a sombre yet inspiring journey as I put together the video of my dad’s life and tried to find ways for his voice to be heard at his funeral.

There was one little grab from 1988 where Dad says, “I believe our country is like a grub in an old cocoon, and things are not going to change until you who say that Christ is your King act as though you’re part of a different kingdom.”

Those words still reverberate and have meaning today, and I had them in my head as I prepared to unpack Matthew 21.

It’s much easier to have Jesus as a mascot, as a friendly, safe little buddy as you make your way in the kingdom of this world, than to come to terms with the fact Jesus didn’t come to help you play the game of the world.

The kingdom of this world says the scorecard is money, sex and power. But the scorecard Jesus uses is quite different. The Jesus of the Bible is the Lord of a very different kind of kingdom and he’s looking for people who will love him enough to let him be King. 

It’s not hard to go to church and use words like saviour and friend, but the first two stories of Matthew chapter 21 demonstrate that the Jesus of the Bible isn’t a nice, safe appendage to your life. 

So, let’s have a look at what Jesus’ scorecard is and what it means to follow Him:

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

Matthew 21:1-3

So here, up till now in the journey, Jesus has been keeping quiet that He is the Messiah, but now, as He enters Jerusalem, it’s obvious, and He’s making intentional choices to let everybody know who He is and what He’s about. And He says of Himself that He is Lord. 

When Jesus says the Lord needs this donkey, He’s saying, “I’m not here to be your nice, safe appendage. I am Lord.” 

Today, as we face a broken world, my dad’s question still resonates.

What does living as though we’re members of a different kingdom mean? I think what Jesus does here is demonstrate through His actions, His prophetic actions,

Matthew says:

This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet: ‘Say to Daughter Zion, “See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”‘

Matthew 21:4-5

Matthew’s quoting Zechariah here.

 It says, 

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle-bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.”

Zechariah 9:9-11

Israel was waiting for somebody more powerful than Rome, with more coercive power than Rome. They believed that redemption would come through a tough guy. 

The scorecard of our world says, “The winners are the most powerful.”

The people of Ukraine would be hoping for a great military victory, precisely what the Jewish people expected the Messiah would bring. 

But can you see what it says in Zechariah? Jesus didn’t come to win the battle through coercive power.

The myth of redemptive violence is that you can bring peace by being a bigger baddie than the baddies. Every Marvel movie is based on the myth of redemptive violence.

Jesus comes as a completely different kind of King, not one that takes your will away and makes you subservient. 

C.S. Lewis says, “The more I let Jesus take me over, the more truly myself I become.” You see, Jesus as Lord is the path to life, but not the kind of life we believe we need, not the part path to life of money, sex and power. 

The scorecard of the kingdom of God is not money, sex and power. Jesus isn’t your ticket to those things; he is your ticket to the kingdom of love. It is an entirely different scorecard.

So, the disciples went and did as Jesus instructed them. They brought the donkey in the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 

Jesus knew exactly what he was doing by coming in on the donkey. He’s announcing to the world, announcing to the powers, “I am the Messiah. I am the King of a very different kind of kingdom.” 

As the crowd lines the streets and proclaims ‘Hosanna’, they don’t realise what they are saying. 

They’re quoting Psalm 118, which says, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

That’s not what we want. We don’t want the stone the builders rejected. We want to be the cornerstone, we want to be the superstars, and we want a ticket to ride.

 But Jesus comes as the stone the builders rejected.

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord, we bless you.

Psalms 118:22-26

The crowd wanted a cornerstone accepted by builders. They wanted a military leader to kick the Romans into the sea. But even in their words, they declare this is a very different kind of kingdom that doesn’t play according to the rules of money, sex and power.

And at the end of this little bit of the story, this is our central question.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowd answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Matthew 21:10-11

Who is Jesus for you? There is not a more important question. 

Is Jesus the Lord of your life?

 Is he King for you?

Jesus acts prophetically again; he comes to the temple, and he enters the Gentile courts, the places where the Gentiles could come and worship.

As he plaits a whip and kicks over the tables, is that through his actions, he stops the sacrifices going on at the temple. So he blocks what people thought their path was to God, and he blocks the money people were making from the people’s path to God.

He says:

“It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a den of robbers.'”

Matthew 21:13

It’s not about your religious practice, and it’s not about your sacrifices.

God is here and wants a relationship with everybody.

And the last thing he wants is any blockage for anybody. And that’s the stuff that makes Jesus upset.

And he declares judgment on the priests and the temple; he says, “You have made this a den of robbers.”

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 

Matthew 21:14-15

 Why is it a big deal that Jesus is healing the blind and the lame? 

Leviticus 21:17-23 said that the blind and the lame would never be able to come into the temple because they weren’t whole or complete. 

Jesus is showing with his actions that everybody’s welcome, and he is here to remove any blockage. Nothing in your life should get in the road of you entering a relationship with God.

Jesus responds to the indignant teachers of the law asking whether he heard what the children were saying with a remarkable mic-drop:

Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

Matthew 21:16

Here, Jesus has not only declared as he did in the story of the triumphal entry that he is the Messiah. 

Here he is quoting Psalm 81, rather than Psalm 8 verses 1-2, where it says:

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

Psalms 8:1-2

Jesus is not only saying he’s the Messiah. He’s saying, “I am accepting the praise that is only due to God.”  

And so these two stories show us that Jesus is an entirely different kind of King of a different kind of kingdom.

The kingdom of this world measures success through money, sex and power. Jesus comes and measures success through love. 

The path to greatness in the kingdom of God isn’t how many Facebook followers you have, how much money you have in the bank, or how pretty or handsome your boyfriend or girlfriend is. The measure of success in Christ’s kingdom is simple: How have you loved?

And what does love look like?

The path to love in Jesus’ different kind of kingdom comes in the shape of a cross. When you get up in the morning, you are inclined to think about yourself. Your task is to love God and love people. And as you open yourself to that, you’ll live a cross-shaped life.

Our world doesn’t need bigger bullies,

My Dad was right. This world is desperate for people who have given their lives to Christ as King and are willing to act like they are part of a different kind of kingdom, a kingdom of love and not of coercive power.